Stand-in boss Phil Thompson saw his unbeaten record wrenched from him but refused to blame two debatable offside goals for Liverpool's Champions League defeat at Anfield by a classy Barcelona, writes PAUL WALKER.

After the Catalan club's victory at Anfield, the Liverpool players claimed Barcelona's first goal through Patrick Kluivert and the third from Marc Overmars should both have been disallowed.

But Thompson said: "These things happen in football. Our lads reckoned the third was definitely off and they thought the first one was too.

"You only had to look at Sami Hyypia's reaction at the end to see how upset they were. It was a substitute linesman too, maybe it was a bit quick for him.

"But the lads know they have played a great side, Barcelona must be among the red-hot favourites to win the Champions League.

"After the match I spoke to the boss, Gerard Houllier, on the phone and said 'sorry mate'.

"He just told me to keep my chin up and to tell the lads how proud he was of them, as much for what they have done over a period of time than just the way they fought in this match. He said that maybe it had something to do with the two week gap without a game, it could have had some effect on us.

"He also commented on the decisions that went against us, but likewise he just said things like that happen and you have to accept them.

"But the fact remains that they kept the ball much better than us, and we had to work very hard to get it back. We have reached a high peak and we will only get better by playing a team like this."

Thompson added: "My run had to come to an end some time or other, and it was against an exceptional team of high quality players. It was a high quality Champions League game and Barcelona played some great stuff.

"The game changed on crucial incidents. Before their first goal, Emile Heskey had seen a shot kicked off the line 30 seconds beforehand, and just before their second, Michael Owen missed what he described as a sitter."

Barcelona coach Carles Rexach said: "If that Owen effort had gone in it would have changed the whole game, it was as close as that.

"But I was delighted with my team. We showed our worth as a side and we have continued to play well this season.

"We ended up dominating the play against a very good side and stringing 12 and 15 passes together at times."

Boavista continued to upset the odds after taking a surprise lead in Group A following their 1-0 defeat of Nantes and Manchester United's 1-1 stalemate against Bayern Munich.

They became the first club to win the Portuguese championship outside of Sporting Lisbon, Benfica and Porto in 55 years last season.

And they are making a nuisance of themselves at Europe's top table as well, earning their victory with a first-half goal from captain Erwin Sanchez.